Spring in the Showroom

As spring has allowed for at least a moment or two of sunlight, I was able to finally capture some shots of the Lohr Woodworking Studio showroom. If you have perused our new website, you have seen that the showroom is open for visits upon request/reservation so we wanted to give the world a peak into what we have in stock upstairs.

On the second floor of the barn, in what was once Jeff's first woodshop on the property, there is a showroom of the finished pieces for sale. The pieces up for grabs include, but are not limited to: a cherry table sofa and morris chair, a ghost (spalted) maple and walnut coffee table, a set of dining room chairs, a walnut and oak cabinet, Jeff's original arts & crafts style floor and table-top lamps, and even a few live edge tables! All of these pieces are handmade by Jeff and/or Rob and are awaiting visitors. I can post photographs all over but nothing compares to coming in to sit on, feel, and see close up the details of this furniture. We encourage people to turn the pieces upside-down, open drawers and doors, and ask questions about the joinery. These pieces are meant to be used as much as they are meant to be admired!

Now that the harshness of winter seems to have subsided, the showroom is already getting visitors. After 15 years, last weekend Barbara decided it was time to swing by Lohr Woodworking and see what had developed since her last visit.

Barbara has a deep-rooted respect and admiration of arts and crafts style furniture as she is, and has been, actively involved with the Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms. The museum "is the centerpiece of Gustav Stickley’s early 20th century country estate" and "is one of the most significant landmarks of the American Arts and Crafts movement."  She has been been president of Craftsman Farms Foundation (which runs the Stickley Museum) for three years, serves on multiple Committees, Chairs the Executive and Development Committees, and still has found time to volunteer her services as a docent. Needless to say, she knows a thing or two about the history, purpose, and design elements of the Arts & Crafts movement and thus style that Jeff incorporates into his own custom furniture.

Up in the showroom, only a few furniture pieces made from the English brown oak burl log that came from the Alnwick Castle (one of the filming sites for the Harry Potter films) remain unclaimed. These highly figured and unique burl slabs were cut from an entirely-burl oak log brought over from the UK and most of it's pieces have found their place in client homes around the nation. Two of the tables that we still have are in the form of live edge side tables and a third in the form of a live edge cocktail table. After Barbara's visit this weekend, only two of the tables remain in the showroom. We are happy, as always, to see a piece of furniture find a new home and sincerely hope that Barbara enjoys her first Lohr Woodworking table for years to come!

In JD Lohr School of Woodworking news, we have added a Lohr Woodworking Community forum to our school website. All alumni or registered students our course(s) are encouraged to join the group and start up the conversation! We aim to provide a resource for our beloved woodworking students to chat, share, ask, and brag before and after they visit us for class(es).